Lottery strategy, is there anything in it?

While there are no fool-proof ways to increase your odds of winning the lottery, it’s possible to improve your chances of taking home more money. Here we’ll take you through a few sneaky lottery tips.

Select numbers above 31

As you probably know, there are 45,057,474 combinations that can occur from the 59 balls in the UK lottery, all of which have an equal chance of coming out. This means that there is no way to come up with a combination of numbers more likely to occur than others. While some sites might suggest using the hot and cold strategy (much like in roulette), each draw is an independent event and as such every number has the same chance to occur each and every draw. Likewise, the combination 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is just as likely as any other, it’s just that patterns like this seem less likely to occur in our minds. Of course, this doesn’t stop an unwary cohort of players choosing this combination day in, day out, which brings us on to our main point.

There are combinations out there that are more popular than others, like 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, or 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, that have a regular following. Now, the popularity of a sequence isn’t going to affect the odds of you winning, or losing, but it does do something else entirely. If one person wins the jackpot, they get it all; likewise, if two people win they share it. Now, if 10 people share the prize, you get 1/10 of the prize, which while still amazing isn’t entirely life-changing. Now, imagine all the people who put 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 on week-in, week-out. Even if it’s hundreds, the jackpot prize will be nothing more than a holiday abroad and maybe enough to redecorate the house. If you haven’t already guessed, it’s best to avoid the combinations that are popular.

Now, if we think about this logically, we can go one step further. One of the most popular ways of selecting numbers is by the birthdays of friends and family. If you’re from any country that follows the Georgian calendar, which contains months of 31, or 30 days, then people who follow the birthday rule religiously are confined to just more than half the lottery numbers. The rest, while still chosen by others, and through the lucky dip system, will potentially be less popular than others. As such, to ensure you bag as much of the jackpot as possible, it’s best to choose numbers over 31.

Then again… don’t pick numbers

Time and time again people stick to the same numbers. And while we’ve already said choosing combinations won’t sway the odds, people eventually come to own their numbers, playing week after week in the fear that their numbers might just come up. How unbearable would it be for your numbers to come up only for you to forget to play that week. You could be living on a yacht, drinking martinis and prosecco and eating canapes, but instead you’re sat at home, watching the Eastenders omnibus.

Our advice, play lucky dips. This way, if you forget to play one week you won’t kick yourself. Since you get a new set of numbers every week you won’t hold on to the same numbers while also retaining the same odds you’d normally get.

Finally, only play when the jackpot is big

For those who aren’t exactly clued up in statistics, the expected value is calculated by taking all the potential outcomes of the process (combinations, in regards to lottery), multiplying each outcome by its probability and adding them all up. If this figure is negative (<0), then it’s a loser for the player. If positive (>0) then there is a positive expected value, which is better for the player. The higher the jackpot, the greater the expected value — so, to make sure lottery is worth your while, play when the jackpot is the largest.